


Never Left Behind

by worldturnedupsidedown



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Team Bonding, Treat Fic, timeskip fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-14 04:52:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16033361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worldturnedupsidedown/pseuds/worldturnedupsidedown
Summary: Kakashi really underestimated just how stubborn Sakura could be.





	Never Left Behind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crunchysunrises](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crunchysunrises/gifts).



> Well, I saw all those prompts for Kakashi and Sakura fic and I just had to do at least one. Technically, this is AU in my mind where Kakashi and Sakura have been hanging out during the timeskip but it could fit perfectly well in canon too. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, crunchysunrises!

When Kakashi said goodbye to Naruto as he went on his training trip with Jiraiya, he had expected that to be the end of Team 7. He had never been well-suited to Sakura for a teacher, her chakra control was already likely to be far better than his own with just a little training and he had never quite understood how her mind worked. Sasuke's desire for revenge, definitely. Naruto's want to prove himself? Kakashi had gone overboard on this after he had found his father with his own sword in his stomach, but he understood the desire. Sakura seemed to be a strange mix of the two of them, mixed with a strange rivalry with Ino over a boy (though Kakashi was pretty sure Sasuke was incidental to the actual fight, he was just an excuse) and add that to a relatively normal family. Yes, Sakura's parents weren't the best parents in the world but Kakashi had met far worse. 

He had expected to be sent back on the solo, high-ranked missions he hadn't been able to do as much of when he had his team of genins with him and fade into the background of Konoha shinobi. 

Sakura, he soon found out, was even more stubborn than Naruto. She was watching the family she grew up with grow more and more distinct as they realised she was determined to continue on her course as a ninja, and she was determined to hold onto whatever makeshift family she had left. 

"How did you know where I lived?" Kakashi asked as he stared at his student sitting primly on his bed. He lived in a jounin apartment, for those who had no wish to buy a house or, in Kakashi's case, no wish to live in the one you had. It consisted of a shared kitchen and a shared bathroom on each floor, but his own room with a bed, a desk and several bookshelves. 

"I asked around. When I told Gai what I wanted your address for, he was more than happy to give it to me." Sakura was examining him with the clincial gaze of a medic-nin and Kakashi felt more exposed than ever. He had been injured on his mission, that was true, but it was something he could patch up himself. He didn't need any help. 

When he told Sakura this, she looked unimpressed. 

"Of course I believe you completely about your own health. You have never ignored medical advice in order to what you thought was best and then ended up collapsing on the floor," Sakura said in a perfectly even tone of voice. There wasn't a hint of censure or sarcasm there at all and Kakashi would be far more admiring if he wasn't quite so damn exhausted. 

"Sakura, why are you here?" He resisted the urge to lean against the door jam. Confirming that Sakura was right was exactly the opposite of what he wanted to do right now. 

"I'm here to make my sensei is alright. Practising my medical ninjutsu as well." Sakura smiled guilelessly and how could Kakashi argue with that? It wasn't like he could tell her that he couldn't even do this one thing for her. It was only for her practice, no other reason. 

He sat down far too heavily on his chair and let Sakura examine each cut carefully, healing each bit by bit. The silence stretched on between them. "I'm not your sensei anymore, Sakura." Team 7 had been dissolved after Naruto had left the village, at least officially. 

"After all your talk about your teammates, do you really think I'll leave you so easily?" Sakura sounded almost hurt and Kakashi really wished she hadn't done that. He could deal with hurt feelings on the training ground because genin were supposed to curse, bleed and hate their new sensei because it would be making them stronger. His student, the one he had arguably failed the most because he had no complicated feelings about her family or clan, was throwing his words back in his face and he really didn't know how to deal with it at all. 

"Sakura," he tried again but then stalled on what he was going to say to her. It shouldn't be this hard, he normally knew how he should act around people. Yes, he didn't always listen to that part of his mind, but he definitely picked up on how people felt. 

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm not giving up on Team 7, even if we are small now, and I hope you haven't either." Sakura's gentle chakra flared up as she healed one of the larger cuts on Kakashi's shoulder. He sat and let Sakura heal him, not knowing what to say, not knowing how to point out that Team 7 was no more, that he had failed them as a sensei, completely and utterly. 

Kakashi had his people that he would do anything for. The list had gotten smaller and smaller over the years as the people had died one by one but now he thought he knew the list was two people long, Tenzo and Gai. It was irritating to realise that his students, even Sasuke before he left, had made their way onto that list without Kakashi's permission. 

Sakura looked exhausted after healing the cut on his shoulder and he halted her hands as she reached up to start healing the other cuts. 

"That's enough, Sakura. You look like you're going to pass out." For a second there, her jaw set and it looked like she was going to argue the point. But then she sighed and nodded. 

"You too." She gestured at the bed and Kakashi stared at her. The gesture was repeated and this time she glared at him. "You're obviously low on chakra and considering what happened the last time you overused your Sharingan, I think you should get into bed now." 

"After I get you home," Kakashi said but Sakura shook off his hands. 

"No, Kakashi-sensei. I'm the medic-nin here and I say you go to sleep." Sakura folded her arms and if that wasn't a clear sign of her stubborn will, then he didn't know what was. 

Trouble is, he was far more stubborn. "And I will be a good patient and go to sleep. After you head home." He didn't say anything about him walking her home after he attempted to stand up and almost fell over. He had managed to catch himself but Sakura's eyes were far too sharp nowadays and he knew she hadn't missed his little stagger. 

"Fine. But no training tonight, Kakashi-sensei." 

"Alright, Sakura." He wouldn't have done so anyway, he did know his limits thank you very much, but if it made Sakura feel better, he would make her feel like it was her doing. She cast him a glance as if she was sure she knew what he was doing but didn't how he was doing it. 

He smiled, making sure it was visible in his right eye. He had forgotten how much fun it was messing with his students. 

"Home, Sakura." He made sure she got out of the building and then watched from the roof as she headed home. The Harunos were lower-level ninja who had bought a house on the edge of the ninja district and so he was able to monitor Sakura's chakra as she made her way home. 

He didn't leave the building so he wasn't doing any harm. Just making sure his student got home safe.


End file.
